Crystal Clear
by Ageha Yume
Summary: Tetsuya only wanted to live peacefully on this shrine with his two closest friends, Daiki and Taiga. He never wanted to be labeled as an evil spirit, placing a curse on the village, and shunned by all villagers. Unfortunately, that was the case and now three onmyouji came to exorcise him. But things went off track, and now Akashi and friends are there to solve this case. (Hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

A run down village exist on the borderline of two countries: Seirin and Teiko. Commotion arised in said village and the villagers exchanged words with anxiety and worry. The village had faced a huge dilemna for the past year: the rate of precipitation had dropped so low that there rarely wasn't any rain raining down from the sky, and thus, the village's food source had become so limited that every villagers can only have one small portion of food daily. Lots of people are dying due to starvation and many decided to pack their belongings and leave the village.

The once friendly villagers turned hostile towards one another just to get any and every food and drop of clean and fresh water. Some even resort to drinking mud water and just about anything just to quench their thirst and appease their stomachs. With no food to eat, the villagers doesn't have energy to work, thus many construction works and shops were closed down.

"Silence!" A middle-aged man, the village's leader spoke and this voice cut through the angry voices of the villagers. Despite the situation, the leader still held lots of power on the village and his people still would obey him without question.

"I've decided... we'll get rid of that spirt!" He declared and the villagers cheered, raising their weapons in the air. A year ago, news spread through the village about the arrival of some unknown spirit. The villagers would welcome the spirit as long as he/she would be peaceful with them. Therefore, the leader send few men toward the shrine where the spirit was located with baskets of fruits as a welcoming gift. It was shockingly surprising when the men returned, drenched in red with large bite marks across their limbs and chest.

The men exclaimed that the evil spirit treated them very violently even though they never done anything harmful. The men were immediately treated and the leader ordered his men to not let anyone even go near the shrine for their safety.

Few days after the incident, the amount of rain had dropped gradually and soon the land had dried up with no rain watering them. The villagers first went to their deity and begged for forgiveness for whatever sin they had commited, offering the best meat they had available. The priest chanted a mantra and the villagers decided to see if there's any changes in the God's feelings.

The answer was no and there still wasn't any rain. Finally, one man exclaimed that this was the doing of the spirit and that the evil spirit had placed a curse upon the village because they trod upon their territory.

The others were relundant to believe in this idea but were soon convinced when the same men who visited the spirit first returned with even more serious injuries.

The only problem that lie in this plan was that normal humans couldn't defeat spirits with supernatural powers. It was very clear which side would win, therefore, the village gathered all the money they had to ask an onmyouji to defeat the spirit. Onmyouji are individuals who have spiritual powers in them and learned how to defeat spirits that caused harm on Earth.

The village had requested for a famous onmyouji Akashi Seijuro accompanied by his friends, Midorima Shintarou and Murasakibara Atsushi. It certainly wasn't easy to request for such a well-know individual, however, due to some connections, the leader managed to request for Akashi with the money they had available.

The villagers are now waiting for their saviors impatiently because they wish to solve this problem as soon as possible. Their wish was granted when a redhead walked towards the village's leader along with two other individuals behind him.

The two parties exchanged greetings and the leader described briefly what their task is.

"Do you think you can handle it?" The leader asked with uncertainty.

"Of course," Akashi smirked, "Never underestimate me."

Akashi waved his hand to signal Midorima and Murasakibara to move along and follow him. The trio crossed the bridge to the mountain and walked up a steep land on the mountain. Along the journey, the trio looked for any movements and so far, nothing looks out of the ordinary. Though one particular presence caught Akashi's attention.

The shrine looks like any ordinary one. No omnious presence are around and the place feels pure and clean like any holy place will be. This aroused Akashi's suspicion that what the villagers are stating are false.

From what he observed, whoever's residing here wasn't evil, or at least, that was what his senses are telling him.

Without looking back, Akashi stated, "Come out now whoever you are, there's no need to hide."

A figure walked out from the bushes. Akashi turned around and saw a pale bluenette wearing a blue yukata with simple patterns on the hems of the clothing. His hair and eyes looked exactly like the color of the ocean, blue and clear. What made him very feminine was his long hair that reached the midsection of his back.

"Are you the so called evil spirit?" Akashi questioned bluntly.

"That's very rude to call me an evil spirit, and I'm not a spirit." The bluenette answered.

"Ah, of course. That aura is definitely not one that a spirit holds. So, let me rephrase my question: who are you and what's your purpose residing on this mountain?" Akashi said as he get straight down to business.

"My name is Tetsuya and I chose this place for no specific reason. Just that I want to have a place to stay." Tetsuya responded.

"Then are you somewhat related to the disapperance of rain on this land?" Akashi asked and narrowed his eyes.

"..."

"I'll take your silence as a 'yes.' So would you please kindly share your story with us?"

Tetsuya turned his head," I have no obligation to tell you anything."

"Right, we can use force or talk through this peacefully, the choice is yours." Akashi shrugged his shoulders.

"Akashi!" Midorima's sudden voice interrupted their conversation and he rushed to Akashi's side, successfully knocking down the incoming arrow. Using this moment, two figures moved out their hiding spot and surround Tetsuya, shielding him from harm.

"Dai... Tai..." Tetsuya said with a hint of surprise.

One of the incomer is a redhead with black streaks at the bottom of his hair. He has tiger ears on his head and a long tail near his bottom. He kept growling at Akashi and the others.

The other incomer has dark navy hair with tan skin. He has panther ears and tail and opened his mouth to show his large canine teeth, growling incessantly.

"Dai, Tai, calm down. They aren't doing anything to me!" Tetsuya grabbed his friends' hands to grab their attention.

"You sure Tetsu?" Dai, or his full name Daiki said. He walked closer to Tetsuya and moved his eyes across his body to check for any injuries.

"Tetsuya, we just want to protect you and not let what happened last time occured again!" Tai, or Taiga exclaimed and he pay close attention to Akashi and others, eyes never leaving for a second.

 _It happened the day the trio first arrived at this village. They passed by the leader of the village and introduced themselves in a friendly manner, wanting to coexist with the humans. For that purpose, they refrain from using their powers and Daiki and Taiga's ears and tails were hidden so they wouldn't arouse any unwanted fear and malice towards them._

 _They chose an isolated area to reside in and picked the abandoned shrine to inhabit in. Despite the fact that the shrine was broken down, it was usable and after a few days, they rebuild the shrine. Using their skills, they created various wood furnitures using the trees from the forest. All in all, they were quite content living in this shrine._

 _But that happiness was soon shattered when a villager stumbled upon their shrine. Tetsuya treated him with hospitality and invited him in, presenting him with fresh fruits that he had collected._

 _The villager, instead of expressing his gratitude, slide his hand towards Tetsuya's back and flirted with Tetsuya._

 _Tetsuya was soon uncomfortable and immediately scooted away from the villager. The villager followed after him, hugging Tetsuya close despite Tetsuya's resistance. Since Tetsuya couldn't use his powers, he's pratically defenseless._

 _Tetsuya slapped the villager's face when his hand reached inside his clothing. The villager glared at Tetsuya and hastily tored open Tetsuya's yukata. Tetsuya screamed and thankfully, Daiki and Taiga reached the scene and saved him. The two ayakashi's eyes were red and their fangs sharpened. Immediately, they latched themselves onto the villager and used their sharp claws to dig deep into his skin and they wouldn't stop until they killed the man. If Tetsuya didn't stop them that day, the two would really kill the villager. Thus, Daiki and Taiga's protectiveness increased tenfold, instantly suspecting that anyone who approached Tetsuya held dirty thoughts._

"I know, Tai, Dai. I'm fine." Tetsuya reassured.

"Why are you guys here?" Daiki asked with slight anger, displeased with the intruders.

"We want to get rid of the evil spirit as the villagers' named it, but since Tetsuya here is not a spirit and couldn't place a curse on the villagers, that solved our first task. We also want to find the causes of the drought and eliminate those who was disturbing nature. We're merely trying to get some information before you guys charge right in here," Akashi said.

Daiki and Taiga looked at Tetsuya to confirm the validity of Akashi's statement and Tetsuya nodded in response.

"Tetsuya," Midorima started. "You obviously know something about the disappearance of the rain and it would be very helpful if you cooperate with us. As you can see, the villagers are truly suffering due to the lack of rain and it caused so many negative effects on land. If this continues on, it would lead to more serious consequences. Therefore, please do share anything you know regarding this case."

Tetsuya can tell that Midorima spoke with sincerity and he wishes to help the villagers even though his facial expressions doesn't express much of his feelings. "The Rain God is my mother and since she was missing, she couldn't use her powers to make rain fall on this land. But even I don't know where she is, so I can't really help you here..."

"Rain?..." A childish answer said and all eyes turned toward Murasakibara. "Why can't you make rain instead of your mother?"

Tetsuya looked uncomfortable and embarrased to answer so Daiki do so in his place.

"Tetsu is a snow ayakashi and he couldn't use his powers due to some unknown reasons."

Tetsuya looked up when he felt a warm power touching his skin. He saw a pair of heterochromatic eyes looking down on him.

The warm power left his body and Akashi spoke, "It seems that there's no evil being in you that prevents you from using your power, so that's weird. How long has this been happening?"

"I think about 5 months or so."

Akashi looked very curious at this situaton, "Interesting," he murmured. Akashi looks like he was deep in thought and so Tetsuya lightly tapped his shoulders, hoping to catch his attention.

Akashi glanced at him in reponse.

"What will you guys do afterwards? Will you return back to the village?"

Akashi chuckled humorly, "Of course we couldn't leave empty handed. I guess we'll stay here and investigate this matter further."

"Leave! We don't want you guys here!" Daiki exclaimed, expressing his dissatisfication.

"Dai! You can't be rude to our guests!" Tetsuya scolded his friend.

Daiki tsked and walked away, going back to hunting. Taiga stayed and kept a close distance toward Tetsuya, still not fully trusting their guests.

And that was the start of the life of the onmyouji and ayakashi.


	2. Chapter 2

Tetsuya tucked strands of hair behind his ear as a sudden gust of wind blew a magic on his hair, making it go haywire. He leaned on a wooden pillar as his eyes darted upwards, stargazing at the billions of small lights that decorated the night sky, creating various constellations to view at. The sky itself is a form of art that was breathtaking and irresistible, like a magician that cast magic on their audience, making everyone be in awe. Nature is truly a wonderful picture that was there for everyone and no one can have it all.

The night was peaceful and serene, with the exception of constant bickering from Tetsuya's friends and their guests. Glancing back, Tetsuya felt a bubble of anger being formed inside him. He felt slightly annoyed at this argument that had been going on for quite a long time and he was getting tired hearing loud voices hammering in the air.

Tetsuya sighed and looked back at nature, once again feeling that he can escape reality for a brief moment.

Tonight was a breezy night with a moderate temperature and this made Tetsuya wanting to take a short nap here, before going back to the temple, where he once again entered the battlefield - a rather childish yet sincere war Daiki and Taiga were fighting against Midorima and Murasakibara. Thankfully, the most sane person from their guests, Akashi, were wise enough to not participate in the argument that gets more heated as time passes.

Tetsuya was thankful that he had a comrade that understands how he feels. Really, his friends were like children in times like this despite them being strong warriors and have an unfriendly face that scares off their weak contenders that dared to approach Tetsuya. But nevertheless, they're friends and Tetsuya do find this side of them charming as well. He'd accept everything about them, even if they're quite short-tempered and would cause destruction in the room anytime.

When his eyes were about to shut close, Tetsuya's ears perked up as he heard light footsteps walking toward him. Immediately, Tetsuya have an inkling on who that person might be. It was his habit to observe people, and so the more he spends time with someone, the more things he'd pick up without him intending to.

Tetsuya turned his head. "Akashi-san," he greeted as he bowed his head slightly.

"Tetsuya, why are you out here when tonight is especially chilly?" Akashi take the liberty to sit next to the bluenette. "And you could catch a cold if you stay out here for too long."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm immune to the cold, so there's no chance of me being sick." Tetsuya thought that it was strange how his powers as a snow ayakashi were gone, but he can still withstand the coldness. Guess the disappearance of his powers doesn't affect this aspect of his ability. "And I thought that it would be nice to get away from that room for a while, seeing as they weren't about to stop fighting."

Akashi nodded, understanding how Tetsuya feels about the situation. "But still," Akashi insisted, "there are too many mysteries in this world, take the disappearance of your powers, for instance. One mustn't let their guard down and should expect the worst." Akashi then looked at Tetsuya's eyes, "Who knows? Maybe for the first time you'll experience a cold."

Tetsuya tentatively gave a nod, "You have a point."

Akashi smiled slightly, glad that Tetsuya was inclined to take his advice. But since it wouldn't hurt to stay for a few more minutes, Akashi allow Tetsuya and himself to stay there for a while before he deemed that it was too cold.

And just like that, the two sat there for few minutes, the close distance between them went unnoticed, but even if it was noted, neither would mind. At one point however, Akashi decided to speak up once again and asked, "Tetsuya, if you don't me asking, can you recall what happened before your lost your powers? Maybe whatever happens triggers this sudden lost of power."

Tetsuya paused as he recounted his memories, "Mother was attacking someone who was trying to kidnap her and I was..." he trailed off. In his memories, there was a void that he couldn't fill in to complete the picture. Just what happened afterwards? His memory was hazy and all that thinking created a tremendous headache for him.

Akashi placed a supportive hand on Tetsuya's shoulder, "Don't force yourself to remember, take your time." Tetsuya murmured "Thank you" in return.

Another silence was formed, both parties deep in their respective thoughts. For Tetsuya, he was trying to remember what happened and decided to ask his friends about this. Maybe they'll have the information that he lacks. And as for Akashi, he was trying to connect the pieces together, as well as formulating a plan to rescue Tetsuya's mother - since that is his job to do something about the lack of rain in this village - and also to help Tetsuya with his problem. But why though? Akashi had not yet found an answer to that question. It wasn't his job to deal with Tetsuya's problem, so why did he want to help?

Akashi bit the insides of his mouth. For once in his entire life, Akashi was deeply confused. But despite all of this internal turmoil, no stress and confusion was displayed across his features. Regardless of what may happen, Akashi always tries to retain his calm composure and tries to analyze the situation. But whatever this is, Akashi just couldn't comprehend what was going on.

He stole a furtive glance toward Tetsuya, but darted his eyes once Tetsuya almost caught him staring. Just why does he feel this magnetic pull toward the bluenette? It feels weird - Akashi was never one to be nice and just lend a hand for someone without receiving a greater benefit from it - and he wasn't quite sure whether he welcome his new feeling or not.

Akashi coughed into the palm of his hand to begin the conversation again as he tilted his head ever so slightly towards the bluenette. "So Tetsuya, how long have you been living here?"

Tetsuya noticed that Akashi didn't include his friends in his question, but he supplied an answer nonetheless. "I think around 4 months? I'm not very certain; I don't really keep track of time."

The redhead nodded, understanding of Tetsuya's behavior. Yokais have a much longer lifespan than humans, so to them, time is something that they wouldn't care much about. But that however, doesn't mean that yokais can live that long. In fact, there are many cases in which yokais died due to the outburst of power, death by omnyouji, failure of health, etc, so in that sense, yokais can die easily, just like humans. Both species share many similarities but what really separates them apart was their difference in strength.

"How long have you been friends with Daiki and Taiga?" Akashi started again and as if he reading Tetsuya's mind, he answered the unspoken question, "Maybe knowing more about your past can somehow give us an answer as to why your powers are failing you."

Tetsuya doesn't see the significance in answering this question, but replied anyways, "We been friends since we're 8...? Around that age."

"And how did you met them?"

A smile ghosted across Tetsuya's lips, "Actually, that time I wandered into a forest without my mother's consent since I'm quite the adventurer at that age, and I ended up getting lost. It was so terrifying, getting lost in an unknown and unfamiliar place. I don't know what I should do and tried to get out, but ended up more lost than before. Thankfully though, help arrived and that was when I met Dai and Tai. They were lifesavers and my hero, and I felt very grateful for them. If not for them, I would have been trapped in there for more than 8 hours, and possibly be eaten by some creatures in the forest."

Akashi listened to Tetsuya recounting his memories, and even if there are questions that arose during the storytelling, he refrain from firing the question. Though it wasn't a pleasant memory for the bluenette, Akashi can tell despite only meeting Tetsuya for two days, that having Daiki and Taiga as friends was really important for him. Tetsuya had such a lovable face on that left Akashi speechless.

He didn't notice that Tetsuya had already finished his story and that he caught Akashi staring at his face until it was too late. Embarassed, Akashi looked away and commented the first thing that came to his mind, "What a nice view tonight" as he observed the night sky.

"...Yes, I agree. These views really capture your attention and make it seems like you can let your guard down, and just relax."

Akashi was about to speak, but his train of thought were disrupted when his and Tetsuya's comrades ended up breaking the shōji, to be specific, it was actually Daiki who was doing the breaking. His massive body, with the help of an additional force, slammed through the door that consists of translucent paper over a frame of wood.

Daiki flew backwards, closing in the distance between Akashi and him. He quickly twisted his body and reached out to grab something to steady himself, but made the wrong choice when he ended up grabbing Akashi's head. Naturally, Akashi was caught off guard since he was too into his "la la land" and wasn't able to avoid what was coming, and so it turns out that both Akashi and Daiki ended up crashing into the dirt near the temple.

"Ow, fuck. I'll definitely have a nasty bruise on my forehead," Daiki cursed and he nurse his wound, rubbing it gently while hissing in pain.

"Daiki, nice to know that you're safe and unharm, but can you please get up?" Akashi requested and while his words weren't exactly threatening, his deadly aura pouring out from this body couldn't be described the same way. The tanned male hastily scrambled away in fear for his life.

Akashi groans as he massaged his back, but blinks when he saw an extended hand in his line of vision. "Are you alright, Akashi-kun?"

"Ah, I'm fine," he grasped onto that warm hand and get up slowly. As he was doing so, he slightly winced at the pain and sighed inwardly as it was very inconvenient being a human without a yokai's healing powers. And surely with this barbaric group, Akashi could already predict that this wouldn't be the first time, and certainly wouldn't be the last, that he'll get injured due to his comrades.

"Look at what you done, Daiki. Thanks to you, Akashi now have bruises. Are you satisfied?" Midorima glared at Daiki. Tetsuya noticed that their clothes and hair are all disheveled and unkempt, so he figured that some sort of physical violence occured while he wasn't present.

The bluenette scoffed, "You made it seems like I intentionally harmed him. If not for you guys, would I be flying out and get him injured?! And you're not in any position to complain; I'm also injured thanks to someone shoving me out the door!" He points to his now healed wound on his forehead.

Midorima folded his arms, "I could care less about you."

"Why you-" And before another argument and fight can be born, Tetsuya stood in between the two, acting as a barrier to prevent the two from touching each other.

"Enough," Tetsuya's soft voice were laced with anger. "Daiki, they are guests here and I hope that you'll treat them as such. Surely you remember how to be hospitable."

Daiki looked down, his short bangs covering his eyes.

"And I'm sorry for the trouble they caused you, Midorima-san, Murasakibara-san, and Akashi-san. And for that, I apologize in their stead and I hope you'll be able to forgive their wrongdoings," Tetsuya bowed in a 90 degree angle to show his sincerity.

"Tetsu, why are you apologizing? You're not in the wrong!" Daiki grabbed Tetsuya's shoulders and tried to force him up, but the bluenette remained stubborn. When Tetsuya sets his mind to something, nearly no one can dissaude him.

"Tetsuya, stop bowing. Shintarou and Atsushi are also held accountable for engaging this argument, and for that, I'll apologize. And I hope with this, both parties will tolerate each other and will stop arguing." Akashi received curt nods from them. "Then let us return back the temple."

And with that said, everyone separate.

"Daiki!" Taiga called out when they are the only one left.

Daiki grunted, still in a bad mood, and stopped wallking. "Yeah?"

"Uhh... you see," he scratched the back of his head as he starts to hesitate. Just how should he break the news? "Midorima wasn't the one who pushed you... I was."

Daiki turned his body in a fast pace, "You what?!"

Taiga held both hands up, "Accident! It was an accident, I swear! I aimed for Midorima, but somehow you got in the way and so before I can stop myself, I ended up... well, you know."

"What the hell," he stomped his foot and returned back to this room. Taiga hope he didn't anger Daiki and even if that was the case, he will cook an awesome breakfast as compensation tomorrow morning.

* * *

Taiga wake up shortly after the sun had rise. Before he left the room though, he make sure to fold his futon and fit it neatly in the closet. He then rummage in the drawer, looking for clothes. Once he was all set, he left the room and traveled to the kitchen, making sure to move slowly so he wouldn't wake anyone up accidentally. He understands that after last night, everyone will need their rest since the fight lasted close to midnight.

Taiga can wake up early, but his childhood friend on the other hand wasn't an early riser. Every morning, Taiga had to drag Daiki's lazy ass, slapped him a couple of times to get him to wake up. But then Taiga figured that the best method would be pouring cold water on Daiki and then, the panther would be jumping five feet up. And at times, the panther was too lazy and sleepy to lift his hand to eat, so Taiga forcefully shoved food down his throat or else Daiki will probably go back to sleep. Daiki would ended up choking, and Taiga would watch him with a you-deserve-it face. After he watched Daiki choking for few seconds, he'd immediately feel guilty and would go pour Daiki a glass of water at the end of his amusement.

Shaking his thoughts away, the tiger continue what he was doing; he looked at the ingredients that he had set on the table and get to work. He moved fluidly, without wasting a second and just like this, he had finished cooking. He wiped the sweat that had gathered on his forehead away and looked down at his masterpiece. With this, not even Daiki would stay mad at him any longer.

Taiga nodded at his own thought. Now all that was left was to drag a certain someone out and hopefully, the two would be on good terms once again. The tiger was quite certain that this would happen since they had never stayed angry at each other for more than a day. The two fought all the time, but always managed to be civil with each other the next day and this patttern always repeats. To them, they wouldn't be Daiki and Taiga without at least a fight, ever over the simplest things, once day.

Turning his head, Taiga was about to walk to Daiki's room when a strange and disturbing sound reverberated in the hall. It came from the left side, and so he turned left and tread carefully.

 _GROWL_

He knit his forked eyebrows together. What in the world was making this sound? It sounded like a ferocious beast who was rudely awaken by an intruder.

And he stopped in front of a bush. The sound was coming from there and Taiga was about to move closer when suddenly something brown suddenly shoot out, and before the tiger can react, it had grabbed Taiga's ankle. Afterwards, a murky, round thing pooped out and... it moved. Twigs and leaves covered the head and soon, the torso also moved out of the bush.

"What the fuc-"

In what appears to be yellow eyes looked at Taiga and the brown lips moved, "Give me f-"

"GYAHHHHH!"

Taiga kicked the head and break free, then ran back to the temple in a hurry. He opened the shōji with incredible force and jumped onto Daiki's body. He shook the tanned male, yelling, "Aho! Get the fuck up! There's a monster here!"

The so called yokai crawled into the temple and croaked, "...'m not... yokai... I'm Kis-" and before he can finish his sentence, he received a kick in the face and fell out the temple.

The ruckus had woken the entire residents up and Kise had lost conscious. The last thing he saw was a pair of heterochromatic eyes looking down at him and then it was pure darkness.

* * *

 ** _BabyNightmareLady_ , hope you like Kise's entrance into the story! ^^ It's thanks to you bringing up his name that made me thought of this.**

 **Any questions, comments, concerns, and feedbacks are all welcome!**


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